Divergence
by Purloined Letter
Summary: After finding himself thrust into an alternate timeline where the Quincy have all but won the Quincy/Shinigami war, Ishida Uryuu tries to both assist a beleaguered Gotei 13 and find a way back home. Mild Uryuu/Rukia hints but mostly action and mystery.
1. Strange Awakening

Heya and thanks for giving this story a chance! Completely rewritten if you remember if from ages ago. Please review if you have the chance; thank you in advance if you do. *bows* Timeline wise this is a bit after his powers are restored by his father and he's recovered from it. Lots of scenes in this first chapter, hope it's not too confusing!

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><p>The first thing that struck Ishida Uryuu as he slowly opened his eyes and looked upwards through his rather dirty glasses was the cloudless night sky above him, the stars and moon showcasing themselves fully (if rather blurrily.) He then felt what seemed like soft ground under his back before the smell of damp earth hit his nose and a cold, wet chill hit his back, so he guessed that he was laying on bare or partially covered damp earth. The clear, wide moon illuminated the heavily forested area around him fairly well as he slowly looked around. As his mind began piercing the fog of a rather thoroughly entrenched headache, the realization immediately started to trickle in of how...<em>off<em> this scenario was. Uryuu blinked twice in puzzlement before gingerly, slowly sitting up and taking his glasses off to clean them. His face was a mask of worried puzzlement after he finished the cleaning and put his glasses back on, studying the old-growth temperate forest he'd found himself in.

He took in with some confusion the massive evergreen branches entwined with moonlight and shadow towering hundreds of feet above his head, slowly swaying like dancers in the light wind. As the scent of damp earth mixed with a strong scent of pine, Uryuu began to realize that something was even more askew than he'd initially thought. He and Kurosaki Ichigo had been fighting a hollow in some suburban outskirt of Karakura Town in the middle of the day; just how long had he been passed out for? _What the hell happened? We were fighting that Hollow, Kurosaki and I somehow managed to chase the thing into Urahara's shop and back out of it again, and then…_A slight shudder went up and down Uryuu's spine as he remembered actually being swallowed whole by the massive beast, the huge X-shaped scar on the side of its almost fishlike body clearly sticking out in his mind even through the slight mental haze he was trying to break through. _Then my hand hit something…I must have passed out after that._

As Uryuu slowly got up and dusted himself off while continuing a careful survey of the area - well, as best he could manage in the moonlight and dancing shadows- the Quincy didn't much like his mental inventory of the current list of possibilities. If his hand had hit and inadvertently activated an item from _Urahara's _shop that the Hollow had gulped up, there was absolutely no telling what had happened afterwards and where exactly he was presently. In fact, if it had indeed been something from Urahara's, Uryuu supposed he should be counting his blessings that he wasn't a female polka-dotted seahorse somewhere on the dark side of the moon at the moment. His hand instinctively flexed into the position it assumed around his kojaku as he continued his attempted assessment of the area around him; it was an ancient forest, but certainly not one that he recognized at all. _How far did that Hollow carry me? Judging by how dark it's getting I must have been unconscious for hours. _Uryuu then decided to continue his investigation by fully standing up and using the Reiraku technique to discern if there was anyone in the immediate area.

He discovered only one immediately visible non-animal strand besides his own after focusing his energy to see the spirit power of all present beings- a single red strand that was dangerously thin and dull. _Looks like a shinigami is pretty badly hurt. _He cautiously followed the thread a few hundred feet to where he discovered the prone, rather bedraggled and unconscious Hitsugaya Tōshirō at the other end, Hyōrinmaru lying by his side. _What could have possibly given a taichō-level shinigami such a beating? And why is he here all by himself? He's a taichō after all; shouldn't his fukutaichō or subordinates be somewhere very close nearby? _Since it was very apparent that Tōshirō was in no position to answer any questions, Uryuu stopped his concentration on Reiraku and knelt to attempt first aid with what tools he had available. After a few minutes of tending to the heavily wounded and unconscious taichō, a very familiar substitute shinigami's voice rang out from almost directly behind him, accompanied by an equally familiar and unmistakably large reiatsu.

"Get the hell AWAY from him, Quincy!"

"Kurosaki, what on Earth are you going on about? He's very-" The next thing that Uryuu felt as he tried to turn and face the strangely angry teen with a puzzled expression was what he assumed to be the broad side of Zangetsu being brought down on his head. Hard.

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><p>"We found <em>him<em>, taichō." Abarai Renji had known that he wouldn't even need to use Ishida Uryuu's name with his taichō, and Byakuya's slightly narrowed eyes told the fukutaichō that his taichō did indeed immediately know to whom he was referring. "We captured him alive out of…deference. Kurosaki and I ran into him while on the retrieval mission for Hitsugaya-taichō." The smell of Byakuya's strong black tea filled the room.

"So he's finally shown his face again." Byakuya snorted almost imperceptibly and turned to face out the window while continuing in his usual cool, collected tone. "Take him to the Quincy sector immediately; I'll clear it with Yamamoto-sōtaichō while you move him."

"I figured you'd ask as much," replied Renji with a nod as he turned and began exiting the room. "If we don't suppress that reiatsu of his in a hurry Rukia's sure to pick up on it." He frowned and paused in mid-stride as a thought crossed his mind. "I don't know what training that guy's been doing but his reiatsu is a hell of a lot stronger than it used to be. Kurosaki and I both picked up on it from nearly a half mile away and you know how lousy Kurosaki is at that, although he is getting better."

"Place the prisoner in one of the double-insulated cells in that case." Byakuya was still turned to the window, his back to Renji. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that Rukia is absolutely not to be told of this." His quiet, unemotional tone was a contrast to the captain's inner turmoil. _Why the hell has he shown up again, and now of all times? Rukia has finally gotten on with her life…I suppose that I need to figure out the best way to broach this subject with her soon._

"Of course." Renji took the final step out of his captain's quarters and shut the door behind him.

"I still can't believe it." Ichigo's voice issued from behind Renji almost as soon as the lieutenant fully stepped into the hallway, the carrot top almost right on his heels immediately. "What are the odds of us finding that guy bandaging up Hitsugaya-taichō like that? I guess it's probably for the best that Fourth Division wouldn't let Matsumoto come along on the recovery mission, eh? Even though she did raise one hell of a stink about it."

"Yeah." He turned to Ichigo and cocked an eyebrow. "By the way, Kuichiki-taichō has made it very clear that at least for the time being, the fewer who know about our prisoner, the better. He wants us to take him down to the doubles so his reiatsu won't flare out too much." Renji then made a thoughtful face and looked skyward for a moment. "Guess it's good we thought of the reiatsu cloak before we brought 'em to the gate."

They both wordlessly wandered towards the large box they'd placed the still unconscious Quincy in outside of Byakuya's office, quickly walking towards the Quincy cells that had been borne out of the necessity of war. They checked in with security and headed down to the deepest cells that housed the most dangerous or potentially troublesome Quincy- 'the doubles,' as they were frequently called among the shinigami, because a doubly thick amounth of seki seki stone had gone into their construction. These super-thick cells were made of pure seki seki stone, and all of the restraining devices in the cells were specially designed to inhibit Quincy from being able to use their abilities. The pair rather unceremoniously dumped Uryuu onto the bed and put his restraints in place before reporting to the guards that they had a new prisoner to look after.

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><p><strong>A few hours later...<strong>

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><p>Why did he feel so completely drained?<p>

A simple smack on the head from Kurosaki (which he was certainly going to have to find out the cause for later-what could have possibly caused the other boy to do that?) should have been very easy to shake off even if the substitute shinigami _was_ fairly strong. So how come, Uryuu wondered as he was slowly waking up, his eyelids felt like they were weighted with lead and his fingers and toes felt like they weighed approximately seventy pounds apiece, to say nothing of his arms and legs? He also realized as his eyes tried to focus that he wasn't wearing his glasses any more, and the familiar weight and texture of his pentacle's chain was currently absent from his wrist. _Well, given the fact that I'm lying on some sort of bed perhaps Kurosaki took me here after knocking me out?_ It seemed like a medical ward if his somewhat fuzzy vision was anything to go by, albeit a small, private room that his gut was telling him wasn't in the confines of any normal Earth hospital. Uryuu frowned lightly as he continued to try and take in the rather spartan decorating and other details of the room without his glasses.

It was all of the walls, the floor and even the frame of the bed itself being made out of seki seki stone that seemed to confirm his suspicions, really.

_OK. So they've sealed my reiatsu in this room by using that stuff...I wonder if it's because they're trying to keep someone else from picking it up? _He then noticed that there was a small, blue plastic half-full glass of water on a little square stainless steel table next to his bed, as well as his glasses perched neatly on the center of the same table. Uryuu decided to put on his glasses so he could inspect the water to try and determine if it was safe to drink before he felt pressure on his arms and legs as he moved to sit up along with hearing clattering, clinking sounds coming from under the bedsheets that seemed to be right in perfect time with his movements. He finished sitting up fully and found his eyes drawn to the source of both the pressure and noise- his arms and legs. Both sets of limbs were encased in somewhat loose, thick shackles made from what appeared to be a different type of seki seki that was also preventing his body from drawing in the surrounding reiki he needed to use his Quincy abilities. _What's going on here? Have I been captured by Aizen's forces or something? _He narrowed his eyes in thought as he shook his head slightly, dismissing the thought even as it finished forming. _No, that seems wrong. It was definitely _Kurosaki_ who hit me while I was trying to help Hitsugaya-ta__ichō back in that forest…_

"Oh good, you're finally awake! Kurosaki Ichigo sure knocked you out hard." Hanatarō Yamada's voice issued in a somewhat echoey tone from the other side of the room's very sturdy-looking door, and Uryuu could hear the faint sound of keys jangling against each other before the door swung open to reveal the Fourth Division medic carrying what looked like a small tray of food. "Here, I've brought some food. If you promise to cooperate about putting them back on afterwards I've been given permission by Unohana-taichō to remove your arm shackles while you eat since you helped Hitsugaya-taichō- he might not have survived if you hadn't of stabilized him some before Kurosaki and Abarai-fukutaichō called us in."

"What exactly _is_ this place, Hanatarō? Why am I even _in_ these shackles to begin with?" asked Uryuu in a slightly more testy tone than he'd intended as he quickly reached for his glasses and put them on. "All I know is that I was fighting a Hollow with Kurosaki and the thing swallowed me whole; when I woke up again it was hours later and I was in some forest that I didn't recognize. I found Hitsugaya-taichō, tried to at least bandage some of his wounds and then Kurosaki hit me on the head after yelling at me to get away from him for some reason." After noticing the rather confused look the medic was offering him, Uryuu narrowed his eyes slightly and asked "You have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Fighting a Hollow with Kurosaki? You couldn't have possibly been doing that earlier; he was here for the whole day on security patrol except for when he and Abarai-fukutaichō went to go find Hitsugaya-taichō on Kuichiki-taichō's orders after the earlier fight in the forest." He gave Uryuu a wary glance as he placed the food tray he'd been carrying down on the table before continuing. "Besides, umm, you're a _Quincy_. No offense or anything, but Kurosaki probably wouldn't _let_ you help him or want you helping him." Yamada then separated a small silver key from the rest on the ring he was carrying after locking the room's door from the inside. "Now I can take the arm shackles off if you're ready to eat and you'll give your word that you'll put them back on."

_Get the hell away from him, Quincy! _suddenly rang loudly in Uryuu's memory after the other boy's sentence had finished. It was then that the Quincy recalled the brilliant flash of strange, dark green light right before he'd lost consciousness and the _other_ fact that his hand had inadvertently touched something from Urahara Kisuke's shop while he'd been inside the Hollow's gut before that light had appeared. _I'm suddenly beginning to have a very, _very_ bad feeling about this. Just what kind of rabbit hole has that green light thrown me into? _"I'll put then back on without a fight," Uryuu replied with a nod when he realized that the shinigami was waiting for a response. "So, just how many of us are there? Quincy, I mean." He felt oddly certain for some reason as he asked that the answer would be different than he was expecting it to be.

"Hmm, maybe Unohana-taichō should examine you again- Kurosaki might've hit you harder than we first realized." Yamada removed Uryuu's arm shackles and placed the flat of his hand on Uryuu's forehead briefly before adjusted the bandage wrapped around the Quincy's head and then stepping back. "Well, the bandage looks alright at least. Are you seeing double or having blurry vision? Any feelings of nausea or dizziness?"

"No, actually. I'm fine except for a slight headache." _Well, and also still not having a clue as to what exactly's happened or where I am right now. _As he ate, Uryuu noted just how effective the shackles he was wearing were at preventing reiki absorption; the difference once the arm shackles had been removed was absolutely enormous. "If you could answer my question I'd really appreciate it, though."

"Do you guys not keep a census or something?" inquired Yamada politely with a cocked eyebrow before a soft knock came on the room's door, causing both boys to turn towards it. "Huh, who's that? No one is even supposed to be coming in here but Unohana-taichō or I," the medic muttered as he turned to Uryuu. "Sorry, but these need to go back on because I have to open the door." He indicated the wrist shackles, which he then held up in his hand while looking apologetic.

_Keep a census? There are only two of us left...or are there?_ After Yamada reapplied the shackles and opened the door just barely wide enough to allow himself egress before shutting it behind him, Uryuu found his mind going back over the different possibilities. Unfortunately since it was likely something of _Urahara's_ behind his waking up here, wherever this 'here' was, there was no way of knowing which of his hypotheses were correct- or if _any_ of them were, for that matter.

"I'm really sorry, but you can't go in there. No one can see the prisoner unless they have a note from Kuichiki-taichō or Unohana-taichō authorizing it, and you don't have one."

"I don't need a note." What Uryuu instantly recognized as Kuichiki Rukia's voice sounded firm and full of controlled ire. "Not when I've waited for six months to see him again. Now please let me in that cell."

"B-but it may not even be who you think it is-"

"Neither my brother nor my friends seem to think that I can put two and two together," replied Rukia in the same controlled, angry tone as Uryuu listened with interest from where he was sitting on the bed. "A prisoner brought to the most secure Quincy cells and put into one of the seki seki rooms as well to block their reiatsu, and also one that no one is allowed to see except by special permission? Not to mention that Renji and Ichigo are both tiptoeing around me and avoiding my questions while giving me worried glances when they think that I'm not looking." There was a tense silence. "It's Uryuu in there, isn't it?"

_She's calling me by my first name? _The Quincy also found himself wondering about the 'Quincy cells' Rukia had referred to and the possible implications of his being classified as a prisoner. _It seems that whatever's going on here, the Quincy and Shinigami are apparently still at war, or are at least still hostile towards each other. _Which, of course, made Rukia calling him by his first name even stranger, along with the remark about her having waited six months to see him again.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that, under direct orders from Kuichiki-taichō" replied Yamada sympathetically. "And even if it _was_ Ishida Uryuu like you think, the prisoner doesn't, umm, seem to be quite...normal mentally at the present time, if you know what I mean. They suffered a head injury and are somewhat delusional, so they're probably not in the best shape to see someone- Hey, give those back! I could get in HUGE trouble!"

Uryuu heard jangling followed by the lock's latch clicking before the door swung open again and Rukia entered the room with the keys in her hand, followed by a very frazzled-looking Yamada. "I knew it," Rukia whispered under her breath as she gave Uryuu a look that resided somewhere between anger and puzzlement. "So you've finally shown up." She then frowned as she walked over and seemed to be inspecting his clothing, even taking a bit of his upper sleeve's fabric and rubbing it in between her fingers while giving the garment a confused look. "Why do your clothes look so different, though?"

"These are the same clothes that I always wear when I go to fight Hollows," Uryuu replied mildly before Yamada gave Rukia an 'I-told-you-so' look.

"Do you have amnesia or something? Is that why you never showed up that night?" Rukia asked as she continued to study Uryuu intently.

"I told you that he seems to have suffered some sort of head trauma, although it was likely caused by Ichigo-" Yamada caught himself in mid-sentence and stopped as Rukia glared at him.

"What did Ichigo do to him?"

"He didn't do anything- well, except knock me out." Uryuu stood up and looked at Rukia, then Yamada as an idea formed in his mind. "Where's Urahara Kisuke at?"

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><p>"Welcome to Earth. Or what's left of it, anyhow."<p>

Uryuu barely heard Ichigo's sarcastic remark, still too shocked at the complete and utter devastation that he was taking in. There was no flora or fauna anywhere, just a vast, dry, bare and thoroughly baked-looking stretch of ground that fanned out all around them under a leaden sky that seemed to threaten rain but had no intention of actually following through with the downpour. Uryuu suspected that it wouldn't have been quite as unsettling to him if he hadn't of known that the three of them were standing in what _should_ have been Karakura Town's central square. He subconsciously gathered the reiatsu suppression cloak he'd been given (OK, more like _forced_ to wear after he'd been released from the seki-seki prison room on Byakuya's reluctant orders) a little more closely around himself as he continued to survey the scene, the cloak's oversized hood somewhat obscuring his vision.

"Hmph." Renji studied Uryuu's half-hidden expression momentarily before shaking his head and moving forward at a rather fast walking pace, Zabimaru out and at the ready. "I guess you really _were _tellin' Rukia the truth earlier about not being from around here, weren't ya? You look like you're seein' this for the very first time."

"Come on, Ishida. You wanted to see Urahara Kisuke, so let's go." Ichigo waited for Uryuu to step forward and follow Renji before he brought up the rear, Zangetsu resting on his shoulder. "Between the Hollows and the Quincy patrols it's not a good idea for us to be out in the open like this for too long. That stupid guy just _had_ to choose a meeting spot outside of a dome..."

"Domes?" queried Uryuu tentatively as he followed, something telling him that he wouldn't like the answer to the half-formed question.

"Safe spots where they've put up spiritual energy fields so that Hollows can't get through," Renji replied over his shoulder before snapping his attention back to the front. "Most all towns and villages, places like that are under one and have been under 'em for a while. It's too risky to live in one of the places that's not covered, if you ask me." He looked around and grimaced. "Which is why I don't like this area one little bit. There isn't a dome for two miles in any direction here."

"A necessary precaution, but I can assure you that not even the Hollows hunt this far out. Which is why I chose this spot in the first place- no Hollows _also_ means no Quincy patrols breathing down our necks," came Urahara Kisuke's voice from behind a large rock that they'd passed. "So what mess does the Gotei 13 need cleaned up by me _this_ time?" he asked with a laugh as he fully stepped out from behind his hiding place. "I tell ya, those guys practically throw me out the door for 'disgracing a war hero's memory'"- this was accompanied by sarcastic air quotes- "but the second they need help, who do they come running to?"

"Wasn't our idea. It was this guy here that insisted on seeing you," replied Ichigo neutrally as he indicated Uryuu with his thumb. "I think you'll get it once you see who it is."

"A reiatsu suppression cloak? Interesting." Urahara grinned and adjusted his hat before he finished approaching the group. Shock crossed his features momentarily as he realized that it was Uryuu under the cloak. "So _that's_ where you've been. You've had a whole lot of people looking for you since you suddenly went AWOL six months ago, you know."

"It's _not_ me, though." Uryuu sighed as he tried to think of the best way to put it. "Actually, I _am_ Ishida Uryuu, but I'm not from this...plane, or universe, or however you want to put it. Something of yours- well, the _other_ you where I come from- sent me here in the first place. All I want is to get back home. And since it was probably something of yours- even if it's a different you- I figured that you would be the best place to start."

"I see." The older man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, do you know how you got here in the first place? That would really help in figuring out how to get you back home, ya know."

"No." Uryuu's tone was tinged with frustration. "I know that I touched something while I was in the stomach of that Hollow that swallowed me- something that probably belonged to your shop since the thing had just crashed through it. Then I blacked out and woke up here before Kurosaki hit me over the head."

"That description helps about as much as as bringing brass knuckles to a gunfight," chuckled Urahara before he refocused himself and became serious again. "If the other me is anything like, well, _me_, his place was probably full of all kinds of weird magical stuff that would do who-knows-what to someone that touched it. Especially a being packing as much spirutual punch as I know you are." He rubbed his chain again. "Do you remember _anything_ at _all_ from before you blacked out? Even a color or sound might help."

"I remember...green. Deep green," replied Uryuu after a few moments, his head perking up at the recollection as he met Urahara's eyes. "I was suddenly surrounded by a deep green light the last few seconds before I blacked out. It had to have been a very intense light too, because I was in the Hollow's stomach at the time so the color would have been difficult to distinguish."

"Are you seriously buying this, Urahara?" muttered Ichigo as he gave Uryuu a glare. "The guy just up and vanishes for six damn months and then suddenly he reappears claming that he's from another dimension or something?"

Urahara offered the redhead a grin. "Stranger things have happened, Kurosaki." He returned his attention to Uryuu. "I assume this world is a liiiiiiittle different from what you're used to- you look awfully shaken up."

"Well, yes." Uryuu shifted uncomfortably. "For one thing, where I come from my father and I are the only Quincy left. Although that man doesn't use his powers much at all..."

"I see." Urahara nodded and turned his face skyward after taking in the disbelieving looks that Renji and Ichigo were offering the Quincy. "Yeah, that's just _slightly_ different," he finished with a laugh.

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><p>"So he's claiming that he's from another dimension?" asked Byakuya smoothly as he turned to face Rukia, not letting his voice betray his mind's furious inner churnings. "How strange." His eyes narrowed slightly and a light frost settled over his tone as he continued. "You were...fairly close to him before he disappeared. Do you believe his story?" After learning that Rukia had seen their newest prisoner and had even hijacked the keys to his cell to see him, Byakuya had decided to call her to his quarters for a meeting in order to defuse the situation. He'd quickly become distracted by the rather bizarre information that his adopted sister had imparted, however.<p>

"Actually, I do," replied Rukia in a firm tone with an equally resolute nod. "His reiatsu feels almost the same but there's definitely _something_ different...I could also tell that he was disoriented and confused, although he was trying his hardest to not let it show." She sat down on one of the many chairs in Byakuya's office and adjusted it so that it was directly facing him. "It was also very obvious that he had no idea what I was talking about when I began asking him about where he'd been for the last six months."

Byakuya was certain that it had been a crushing blow to Rukia, but he figured that if she wanted to bring the subject up, she would. "I see. Do you have any idea why he wanted to go meet with Urahara Kisuke? I let him go with an escort at your insistence, after all."

"He seemed to think that Urahara might have an idea of what brought him here," Rukia replied with a shrug. "I take it that you'd like to hear his entire story."

"I would, yes. We need to know whether or not he's a security risk. He's still a Quincy, after all." Byakuya settled into his desk and gave Rukia his full attention.

Rukia gave her brother a slightly reproachful look, but said nothing else before beginning. "Apparently, he and Ichigo- _his_ universe's Ichigo," she added at Byakuya's slightly confused look- "were fighting a Hollow when it got the jump on Ury-Ishida from above and swallowed him whole before he had time to react. The only other thing he knows for certain is that the thing had swallowed a bunch of objects from Urahara's shop before it swallowed him. He felt his hand brush against one of them, and that's the last thing he recalls before he woke up in the middle of that forest by Karakura Dome down on Earth. That was where he also found Hitsugaya-taichō and tended to his wounds before Renji and Ichigo brought him back here."

"Yes- I recall Unohana-taichō mentioning something about that at our taichō's meeting this morning. She said his treatment very likely saved Hitsugaya-taichō's life." Byakuya looked down at a piece of paper on his desk. "Ishida Uryuu _is_ still being classified and treated as a prisoner, though he's been given 'cooperative' status until he does something to have that stripped from him because of his assistance to Hitsugaya-taichō. He'll have much more freedom than most because of that." Byakuya got up and began striding back and forth behind his desk, the closest thing to a nervous habit that the captain had. His face and voice remained as calm and collected as ever. "Of course, Ishida being here in Seretei could present a huge problem. I tried to keep it as quiet as possible, but if word gets back to the Quincy that Ishida Uryuu is here as our prisoner..." He allowed the sentence to drift off unfinished.

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><p>"What the hell happened to Ishida? He was right behind me and then I saw this bright flash of dark green light out of the corner of my eye. I turned around and he was gone, along with the Hollow that he'd been fighting." Kurosaki Ichigo eyed Urahara Kisuke suspiciously before adding "And there was a weird looking hole in the ground where they'd been."<p>

"I'm afraid that until I complete my list of inventory and damaged goods," replied the shopkeeper as he picked through the wreckage that had been left in his shop with his assistants, "I really won't be able to figure that out. Several items are still missing or broken thanks to you guys and that Hollow crashing through here, but-" Urahara dropped the brown cloth that he'd been holding and stood up straight suddenly , turning to face Ichigo with an uncharacteristically serious look. "Dark green light, you said? And an odd looking hole? How _exactly_ did the hole look strange to you?"

"Well… it was a perfect square. All of the sides were completely smooth, too. " The carrot top shifted his weight slightly and added "It definitely wasn't there before the flash of light, either. But when I got my body back from Kon after the fight and came back this way to look at it again, the hole had vanished."

"I was afraid that you were going to describe it that way." Urahara adjusted his hat slightly before turning to Ururu. "Have any of you come across the gazing mirror or its box yet?"

"Not yet," replied Ururu with a slow shake of her head before she resumed digging through the debris in the center of the shop with a small sigh. "Of course, it's kind of hard to tell what anything is in this mess."

"What does a mirror have to do with Ishida vanishing?"

"If I'm correct- and I'm sure I am- everything," replied Urahara before looking skyward and rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Tell me, Kurosaki, have you ever heard of the theory of alternate timelines?"

"Alternate what? What are you talking about?"

"The thinking that even a single decision being made or an event unfolding a particular way causes an entirely new universe to occur, with a branch-off occurring at that decision point or event's end. One universe gets created as the result of that choice or ending, and totally divergent universes are created where another choice was made or things played out differently." Urahara used his hands to illustrate the point as he spoke, moving his pointed fingers out and away from each other in a V shape.

After a few moments, Ichigo nodded his head in understanding. "Okay, but what-"

"Patience, Kurosaki. I'm getting there." Urahara wagged his finger as he interrupted. "I have a mirror," he continued, "that lets you take a gander at all of those possible alternate timelines, using a little trans-dimensional silvering. But considering the condition of these other items, and the fact that they haven't found it yet…"

"You think he broke the mirror or something?"

"More than likely. Of course, the struggle could have resulted in it breaking as well. And if the mirror _was_ shattered, actually touching that silvering might be enough to open up a portal or gate of some kind to one of those timelines. Especially if whatever or whoever touched it just so happened to possess a significant amount of spiritual power."

Ichigo groaned and buried his head in his hand while he dug in his pocket for his cell phone with the other. "So you're saying...Ishida's just _gone_?"

"No. Not at all. We just have to fix the mirror, find which timeline he managed to get himself flung into and yank him back out." As he looked at the scattered trash in his shop, Urahara grinned and adjusted his hat before adding "Of course, that might be just a _wee_ bit difficult with this mess..."


	2. A Favor

Hope everyone is enjoying! :) Thanks to all readers and reviewers!

* * *

><p>"I'm sure you're all wondering about this emergency meeting." Renji eyeballed the group of his fellow fukutaichō with a grin as they sat in the meeting room they usually used. "And about the person that was put in the doubles yesterday, too. I know word gets around fast." He then turned to Rukia with a smile and polite nod. "You talked to 'em the most so far, probably best if you explain things."<p>

Rukia nodded in agreement before she began speaking, looking all the other fukutaichō in the eye in turn. "As you all know, there was heavy fighting yesterday in the Karakura Dome Forest between two full Quincy patrol units and the Seventh and Tenth Divisions. There were no casualties, but Hitsugaya-taichō was so wounded during the fight that they left him long enough to get someone from Fourth Division to look at him. They thought his condition would worsen if he was moved before he was stabilized. Apparently there was some confusion about who was going to guard him, so no one actually stayed behind with him." She cleared her throat lightly and looked down at the explanation she'd prepared. "While they were going to get help...an Ishida Uryuu from another universe somehow wound up a few hundred feet from him. He was in the process of stabilizing Hitsugaya-taichō when Abarai-fukutaichō and Kurosaki Ichigo found them both." There were the expected disbelieving looks and murmurings to each other amongst the seconds-in-command after Rukia finished.

"From another universe? What do you mean by that?" Izuru Kira's question was the first after all of the conversations had somewhat died down.

"Exactly what it sounds like, as strange at it is. I've talked at length with him, and I do believe he's telling the truth." Rukia stood firm in her conviction, her tone of voice showing her belief. "He's also repeated his story several times now, and there are never any changes in it."

"Well- I mean, how did he get here?" Ise Nanao's head was tilted slightly.

Renji shrugged in reply. "Somethin' of Urahara's apparently." This seemed to be a sufficient explanation for the group, as there was a general round of understanding nods and no more immediate questions. "So." He looked around the table at the shinigami present, who were still all somewhat in the expected state of disbelief. "That about sums it up. He's being treated as a cooperative prisoner for the time being, and he's required to wear the reiatsu suppression cloak he's got on at all times till we come up with somethin' different." He looked down at the paper in front of him and cocked an eyebrow. "Needs a sponsoring division before we let him out of the doubles, though. Kuichiki-taichō is willing to if no other division is."

"Hitsugaya-taichō wants to meet with him as soon as possible, actually." Rangiku immediately spoke up. "I got the feeling this morning he was thinking about sponsoring him so he can move around freely and not be cooped up in that cell all day." She shrugged, a little worry underlining her tone. "He _did _save Hitsugaya-taichō's life after all."

Isane nodded in agreement. "Unohana-taichō said as much. She also said to tell everyone that Hitsugaya-taichō is recovering very well- he was up and out of bed this morning when I was doing my rounds, actually." She gave Rangiku in particular a reassuring smile.

"You heard the lady. Keep his shackles on, but get Ishida over to Hitsugaya-taichō's hospital room." Renji turned to a pair of 11th Division guards that had been standing at attention on guard duty.

"Wait a minute. We don't want everyone knowing about him, right?" There was no mistaking the mischievous glint in Rankgiku's eye.

"Of course not. Probably wouldn't sit well if everyone knew a Quincy was walkin' around." Renji nodded in agreement with Rankgiku before cocking an eyebrow. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

A few minutes later after Rangiku had explained her idea, most of the fukutaichō had agreed it was a good idea and went to go report to their various taichō, seeking approval for the plan.

* * *

><p>Uryuu had a small pile of history books in his cell, skimming through them all while trying to get his bearings and an idea of what had happened and when in this alternate reality. Thankfully, thanks to his status he'd been allowed to check out books- or rather, Ichigo and Renji had checked them out for him- from the shinigami's enormous central library. Uryuu had very specifically requested history books on the Quincy-Shinigami War, and there'd apparently been no shortage of them. He'd quickly found where history had gone differently than his own universe. As far as Uryuu could determine, it had been one single battle that had changed the entire outcome of the Quincy-Shinigami War- the very first one.<p>

After the shinigami had decided to exterminate the Quincy to save Earth, a full Quincy regiment of twenty had come into contact with a similarly sized group of shinigami. Instead of the shinigami getting the drop on an inexperienced group in training and killing every Quincy present- as he'd been told by his grandfather was the start of everything in his timeline- something quite different had happened. All of the Quincy present capable of it had immediately used the Letzt Stil technique en masse (at least it sure sounded like it based on the description of how the Quincy looked after using it) after the shinigami had showed their openly hostile intentions. In this universe, the shinigami had seemingly encountered a war-hardened, experienced and powerful group of Quincy. After realizing that one Quincy using the technique was able to take on three or four of the lower-seated shinigami by themselves without even breaking a sweat, the shinigami had quickly decided on a tactical retreat. It seemed, based on his reading, that the shinigami had no idea that the Letzt Stil was usually a technique of last resort that permanently deprived a Quincy of thier power afterwards...unless they had a friend or father with millimeter-precise aim.

"Hey Ishida, let's get going." Ichigo tapped on the bars with a slightly annoyed look.

Uryuu put the book down and looked up at Ichigo as he grabbed his reiatsu suppression cloak that he knew was a condition of him leaving the cell. "What's going on?"

"Yamada, you in here? Come open Ishida's door, would ya?" Ichigo turned and called down the hallway, and the small medic quickly appeared before opening Uryuu's cell.

"Where's he going? I have to write it down." Hanatarō pulled out a notebook.

"To Tenth with Abarai-fukutaichō and I. And don't tell anyone that if they ask." Ichigo turned his attention back to Uryuu. "Ready yet?"

"Um, don't I have to wear the shackles?" Uryuu was more than a little confused, but glad that he didn't have to wear them.

"No. I've got something better if you try anything. Now let's go." Ichigo held up a small vial to show Uryuu before Renji appeared next to him. "Just keep movin' because we're not gonna stop."

Uryuu wordlessly shrugged on the cloak and fell into step between the pair after exiting his cell. He was very curious what was in the vial, but he certainly didn't want to give them a reason to use it on him either. He was actually curious about what Soul Society looked like, so Uryuu looked around as much as he could while they walked quickly. He noticed that everything looked pretty similar, except for the massive security checkpoints reaching up to the very top of all the buildings that he could see. He was certain that the checkpoints were probably in front of every building. _They must scan for reiatsu too..._They rapidly made thier way to the Tenth Division, where they stopped at the gate.

"Abarai Renji-fukutaichō an' Kurosaki Ichigo from Sixth, delivering a prisoner for interrogation. Matsumoto-fukutaichō's expectin' us." Renji gave a polite half-bow to the black-haired female guard, who jotted the names down and let them through with a smile. They then walked up a few flights of stairs before entering a rather large office with a massive bookshelf that extended to the ceiling on one end. A simple-looking white wooden chair and brown desk were in front of the bookshelf, and a pair of wooden couches with tan cushions were arranged facing each other several feet away from the desk. Rukia and Rangiku were occupying two of the couches and waved as the trio entered.

"There you are!" Rukia smiled and stood up, walking over to Uryuu and presenting a large brown bag to him. "Try this on so we can see if it needs any tailoring."

"Um, what is it?" Uryuu looked down at the bag.

"Just take it out already." Rangiku waved her hand in an encouraging 'Come on' gesture as she stood up.

Uryuu reached into the bad and felt soft fabric before he produced what seemed to be a Tenth Division Shihakushō kosode, the other pieces of the outfit in the bag when he looked into it. He gave Rangiku a questioning look. "Um, what-"

"Easy. We're gonna hide you in plain sight- makes it easier to keep an eye on you." Rangiku beamed before practically dragging Uryuu down the hall to what he guessed was a changing room of some sort before she opened the door and half-shoved him in, still wearing the broad smile. "Try it on!" After Uryuu had been in the room for a few moments, she realized something and called through the door. "Oh yeah! What's your shoe size? We need to get you some tabi and waraji too."

"A 24." Uryuu was now deeply grateful for his grandfather's insistence on him learning how to put on and wear at least some styles of Japanese formal dress, although he'd found it an annoyance when he was a child. He quickly stripped to his underwear and began the process of getting dressed in the shinigami attire, finishing with the outfit just as there was a knock on the door. Uryuu was shocked at how well the uniform fit- almost as if someone had taken his measurements and created it just for him. He wasn't quite sure if it was nice to not have to do any altering or if it was a little disturbing. _Did they take my measurements while I was knocked out or something?_

"I have your waraji and tabi if you're dressed." Rukia's voice issued from the other side of the door.

"You can come in." After Rukia handed them to Uryuu, he began putting on the tabi. "Do you know why exactly they're not just keeping me locked up?" He then studied his wrists. "Or making me wear the shackles..."

"It's a 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' kind of thing, I suppose. Most shinigami greatly distrust if not outright hate Quincy here, and they'd probably rather keep you disguised than upset everyone here by letting you walk around in your normal outfit." Rukia gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she shrugged lightly. "Of course, there are only certain places you'll be able to enter and a taichō or fukutaichō has to be with you at all times. We're also going to hold on to your pendant."

_Seems like reasonable precautions. _Uryuu nodded in understanding to her before he finished dressing, putting the second waraji on and looking at himself in the full-length mirror. Seeing himself as a shinigami (or at least looking like one) for the first time left him a little unsettled, but he also had to quickly quash a small voice in his mind telling him that he didn't look half bad in it.

"Ready to meet Hitsugaya-taichō?" Rukia gestured towards the entrance of the clean, well-appointed changing room. "The others are starting security patrol right now."

"Of course." Uryuu inclined his head politely before he fell in line behind Rukia. _It's not like you guys have left me much of a choice, is it?_ He wasn't truly upset, though.

They headed in the direction of what Uryuu guessed was the Fourth Division hospital barrack, Rukia furrowing her brow a little as they approached the security checkpoint. "We should probably think up a name for you..." They finished approaching the doors and Rukia gave the guard at the door a nod, pointing to Uryuu with her thumb. "Kichida Isamu, a new guy. He's with me." The guard looked then both up and down sternly before nodding and letting them both pass after writing the names in the ledger. They could both feel the chill as soon as they entered the hospital-like barracks, Rukia sighing lightly as her breath was visible in front of her while some Fourth Squad members were busy cursing under thier breaths and sprinkling fat grains of salt on the iced over hallways. "Hitsugaya-taichō obviously isn't in the best mood right now." Uryuu mentally filed the alias away for future use before an angry conversation could be heard as they approached the room they were seeking.

"-you and THREE half-naked men on my desk this morning according to several people in the division! I will NOT leave you in charge any longer then I have to. I _am_ getting out of here tonight." The irate voice of Hitsugaya Tōshirō carried clearly through the door as Rukia and Uryuu approached.

Uryuu looked over at Rukia with a cocked eyebrow. "Should we really go in there right now?"

"What part of 'strip poker' don't you understand? The whole point is to-" Rangiku's muffled voice stopped in mid-sentence. This was followed by a pregnant pause and the ambient temperature dropping a few more degrees.

"I have to _use_ my desk, Matsumoto." There was another long pause before the temperature got so cold that Uryuu's teeth started chattering slightly, every one of his and Rukia's breaths appearing as white wisps before vanishing into nothingness.

"I better interrupt this before he freezes everything on this floor," whispered Rukia to Uryuu under her breath before she knocked on the door. "Hitsugaya-taichō? I brought the person you wanted to speak with."

The temperature suddenly shot up drastically before Tōshirō's voice came through the door in a carefully neutral tone. "Bring him in."

Uryuu could feel the intelligent, wary gaze of the Tenth Division taichō on him as soon as he finished entering the room behind Rukia and closed the door. Rankgiku and Tōshirō were sitting facing each other a few feet apart in what looked to be white wooden chairs for visitors, the large, crisply made hospital bed at a right angle to them. The icy taichō quickly got up and approached Uryuu, studying him closely for a few moments. "I understand that I owe you some thanks."

Uryuu shrugged lightly before offering Tōshirō a polite half-bow. "I just helped patch you up a little bit. You probably owe most of the thanks to this hospital, actually."

Tōshirō seemed to think something over before he walked around to look at Uryuu from the back. "I see you're already wearing our Shihakushō. That makes it easier." He then walked back over to Rankgiku and looked up at her. "Can you take Kuichiki out of here? I want to talk to Ishida alone for a while." As soon as the two women left, the taichō cocked an eyebrow at Uryuu, his face suspicious. "I've heard your story. Is it true?"

_Well, at least he doesn't seem to want me to repeat it again. _Uryuu made a point of looking Tōshirō in the eye before nodding and replying "Yes. Every word of it."

"Hn." This seemed to placate the taichō, who nodded and seemed to relax a little before walking over to the chair he'd been sitting in and motioning for Uryuu to take the other seat. "I believe you. Just had to see you and hear it from you first."

_Interesting. But at least he believes me... _Uryuu walked over and sat down in the chair that Tōshirō had indicated. "As you can imagine, it's been a big adjustment."

Tōshirō nodded before studying Uryuu's wrists. "They took your pentacle, right?"

"Yes. I noticed it was gone almost immediately after I woke up, and Kuichiki-fukutaichō mentioned that it would be held on to."

"Well, you need an asauchi at least." Tōshirō looked down at the left side of Uryuu's waist. "You'll look weird walking around here without one. I'll have Matsumoto get one for you from the training area." He then turned to a small table that had a pile of paperwork on it and picked it all up, beginning to leaf through it and sign and initial in various places. "I'll need you to do me a favor if I sponsor you, though."

"And what favor is that?" Uryuu got the feeling that sponsoring meant the small taichō was sticking his neck out for him, so the least he could do was try and repay some of the favor. _Why does he trust me so completely already, though?_

"Keep Matsumoto in line for me until I'm out of here." Tōshirō gave Uryuu a very rueful look. "I don't want to go back to Tenth Division to find everything burned to the ground."

* * *

><p>"The green light has been reported by several people now, sir. By the time our squad got back to the area four Shinigami were seen leaving the area with one of theirs and what appeared to be an unconscious person wearing a classic white Quincy outfit." Nishimura Katsuo bowed his head deferentially after finishing his report to Ishida Sōken. "Our stubborn brethren showed up not long after."<p>

"They always do." Sōken nodded and sighed lightly. "Their blind hatred and stubbornness has never changed, Nishimura-san. I'm sure they were spoiling for a fight."


End file.
